


Ghosts from the Past

by Ice_Queen_96



Category: Transformers all media types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-08-27 07:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8392357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ice_Queen_96/pseuds/Ice_Queen_96
Summary: Sometimes we pay for transgressions when one least expects it.





	1. Chapter 1

“I honestly don’t see what the delay is. Jazz gave me the coordinates. I gave you the coordinates. Why can’t you just open the bridge there and be done with it.”

“For the same reason you didn’t take your shuttle straight there. I’m sure a giant space ship won’t get *any* attention what so ever. I’m sure the thought of hiding it here never crossed your processor.”

*Death glares ensure between both bots*

“Primus, you two are worse than a couple of sparklings.”

“You outta know.”

“Alright, everyone shut up. Look, if I set the coordinates for the scrap yard, what happens if someone is there, I would assume they would be open for business at this time. However, Crown City isn’t that far away so I have to be careful not to get to close to it.” A beeping sound came from the monitor and the operator turned to see the results. “Here, there is an abandoned quarry about 10 miles away from the scrapyard, this should be safe enough to bridge too and it’s not that far of a drive.”

“So says the bot with an off-road alt mode.”

“I will leave you behind if you don’t stop complaining.”

“Fine, fine. The sooner we get there, the sooner I’ll know he’s safe.”

The operator finished entering the coordinates before turning back to his guests. “You have an earth alt-mode?”

“Scanned one when we landed.”

“Alright, getting ready to activate the space bridge.”

Soon, the gate began to glow with a green swirling light and the trio walked through and emerged in the abandoned quarry.

“Where to now Herr Commandant?”

“Access road is that way. Looks like once it intersects with the highway, we turn right and follow it to the scrap yard."

“After you then, my good mech. It’s been way too long since I’ve had Earth’s asphalt under my tires.”

The trio then transformed and made their way out the of the quarry, 2 bright and shiny sports cars following a larger rescue SUV.


	2. And so it Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends show up at the scrap yard but what news do they bring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is more RID 2015 AU (sort of I guess). After Drift joins the team but before Optimus comes back
> 
> And the ever present, I don't own, yada yada yada

Things had been somewhat chaotic at the scrap yard for Team Bee. They were slowly trying to organize their own spaces, repair the stasis pods for when an escapee was recaptured, and work on team building, all while trying to stay hidden from the other humans in the area. Most of the activities were going well and team was engaging in some well-deserved down time. Drift was currently meditating with the minicons while Grimlock was watching a TV show with Russell over by the diner. Bumblebee was by the main computer with Fix-it checking out some recent readings. It didn’t take long for the peace and tranquility to be disturbed by the other two Cybertronian residents who also happened to be a pair of younglings.

“AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! SIDEWIPE!”

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was so priceless, you walked right INTO it!”

Heaving a sigh, Bumblebee jumped down from the remains of the control deck to go break up the latest fight before it went too far. As he walked by Drift, he noticed the Samurai had opened one optic at the commotion while Jetstorm and Slipstream were fully focused on what was going on. Suddenly, Strongarm came stomping around the corner, a shower of glitter following in her wake. 

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad!” Sideswipe came following closely after her. He stopped short when she turned suddenly and stuck a finger in his face.

“This is completely irresponsible and against regulations. What if we were attacked right now, I’m not battle ready due to your prank!”

“It wasn’t a prank!” Sideswipe returned with a glare. “Maybe if you would mind your own business once in a while!”

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Bumblebee jumped in between the two before the fight could become physical. “Now can we calm down and explain what happened.”

“As you can see sir, Sideswipe had a glitter cannon set up to go off on whomever walked by his space in the scrap yard.”

“Only because a certain cadet won’t keep her olfactory sensor out of my stuff,” Sideswipe retorted. “Consider it an alarm system, cadets should know all about alarm systems when someone wants others to stay out of their space!”

“Well maybe if you didn’t sneak out of the scrap yard at night, I wouldn’t have to ‘get’ in your business!”

“My time, I can do whatever I want!”

Whoa hold it,” Bumblebee interjected, trying to gain control of the situation. “Sideswipe, why are you sneaking out of the scrap yard at night”

“Ugh, I just need some quiet time and I can’t do that when we’re all tripping over each other.” Sideswipe’s shoulders drooped in resignation. “It’s not like I go very far, just to the ridge overlooking the river.”

“And how do we know you’re not meeting someone there,” Strongarm replied.

“Stop it!” Bumblebee sighed once more as he thought back to whether he and Smokescreen ever had issues like this when they were the youngest members of Team Prime. “Look, Sideswipe, it’s not smart to go off on your own without letting one of us know.”

“Because he’s a punk!”

“Oh that again! You know what, frag you Ms. Perfect, I’m outta here!” Sideswipe initiated his transformation sequence and did a burn out, kicking dirt and dust onto Strongarm before sending the code to the gate and speeding out towards the road.”

“See what I mean, completely irresponsible!”

“Cadet, go clean yourself up and then we’re going to have a little talk,” Bumblebee said as he pointed her in the direction of the washrack.

“Yes sir” she replied a little dejectedly before turning and walking away.

Bumblebee just shook his head and then started when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you want me to go after him?” Drift asked as the minicons looked on in concern.

“No, let’s give him some time to cool off first. Come on, let’s see about getting this mess cleaned up.”

****************

Sideswipe was tearing down the highway towards his traditional spot when he needed time to think. The cliff was the perfect spot – it had a gorgeous view of the river and few humans came up this way so he was able to sit in peace. He transformed once he arrived and walked over to a grove of trees near the edge before sitting down and leaning back against them with a sigh. Ok, so maybe he over-reacted but he was getting tired of Strongarm always suspecting him of being up to something. And, maybe the glitter cannon wasn’t the best of ideas but it got his point across. But what he really regretted was walking away from Bumblebee in the middle of the fight. He really was trying to prove himself but his temper sometimes got the best of him. 

“Stupid, stupid, stupid” he muttered as he knocked his head back against the tree trunk. 

He was so focused on himself that he never noticed that he was being watched.

*****************

Sideswipe had been gone for about a half an hour when Bumblebee walked over to where Strongarm was cleaning up the rest of the glitter. He had decided that she should be responsible for cleaning it up since she admitted she was snooping through Sideswipe’s “room” when she set it off.

“So cadet, do you mind telling me why you were snooping through Sideswipe’s things?”

Strongarm stood at attention before Bumblebee motioned for her to relax. “I just don’t trust him sir, he’s just too irresponsible. Who knows what he’s doing when he leaves.”

“He’s star watching.”

“Sir?”

“Drift has been following him to make sure he stays out of trouble when he leaves at night,” Bumblebee explained. “Sideswipe should tell one of us that he is leaving but I’ve known about it for a while. Just wanted to see if he would approach us about doing it. However, when he goes to the cliff, Drift says he just lays there and looks at the stars. He’s probably got a little homesickness going on. Remember, he didn’t have a choice in coming here and he is the youngest out of all of us. You just need to give him a chance. He’s a good kid, sure exasperating at times, but a good kid. Now, I do think you owe him an apology for going through his things without his permission and I’ll have a talk with him about keeping that temper in check. Alright.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir.”

“Good, finish up here and then get ready for patrol.”

At that moment, there was a buzzing at the door indicating a customer wished to enter the scrap yard. This alerted the bots to take cover in the rear of the yard where they could easily hide and observe the goings on while Denny dealt with the visitors. They could hear the gate swing open and a pair of high performance engines come inside followed by a SUV. 

“No way,” Bumblebee said as he crept closer to the visitors to get a better look.

After closing the gate, Denny came trotting down the steps towards the visitors. “So, what can I help you with today.”

“Are you Denny Clay?” a voice from the SUV asked.

“Um, yes.”

“Are we alone?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Suddenly, the trio initiated their transformation sequences. When finished, there was a bot mostly white with some red accents, a bot mostly red with some white accents, and the smallest was slim in build and mostly yellow with some black accents.

“Ratchet?!?”

Ratchet turned towards the speaker to see Bumblebee come out from hiding. “Bumblebee! Look at you! How are you doing?”

“Long time no see Ratchet,” he laughed as he embraced the older bot. “And Knockout? What’s going on?”

“Always one to get to the point,” Knockout said as he noticed the rest of the Autobot contingent come out from hiding. He looked back at their third companion who was leaning against a wall with a look of indifference on his face. “I’m looking for a wayward youngling,” he said as he turned back towards Bumblebee. “Jazz said I would find him here.”

“Ummm, I’m sorry, wayward youngling?”

“Sideswipe Bee,” Ratchet said. “Where is Sideswipe?”

**********************

Finally deciding he had cooled off enough, Sideswipe stood up so he could make his way back to base. Walking towards the access road so he could transform, he heard loud footsteps approaching him. Looking up, he saw two bots walking his way, dark in color with red visors and blast shields on their faces.

“Greetings mechs, what brings you out this way?” he said as he slowly reached for his sword behind him. The two looked at each other and then back at Sideswipe, raising their blasters without saying a word. “Ah, mechs of action I see.”

He pulled his sword from its scabbard and readied himself for attack. However, the two in front of him made no moves. Suddenly, before he could react, there was a sound behind him. One hand grabbed his wrist, which caused him to drop his sword and then twisted it behind his back while the other clamped tightly over his mouth. 

“You should really learn to stay aware of your surroundings young one,” a voice said. “You were too focused on what was right in front of you.”

The voice was gravely and had a somewhat smarmy tone to it. Sideswipe was wracking his processor trying to place if he had ever heard this mech’s voice before but nothing was matching. He moved his free arm and grabbed the wrist of the hand clamped over his mouth to try to get it to let go. Instead, the grip only tightened on his face and on his trapped arm, causing him to give a little muffled gripe of pain. 

“What would your carrier say if he saw you like this.”

Sideswipe’s eyes bugged open. How did this mech know he had a carrier! Most new sparks came from the well but a few were kindled the old-fashioned way. He knew of very few bots who knew he had a carrier and none of them should have been on Earth. Feeling the grip on his face loosen somewhat, Sideswipe wiggled himself free and turned to see who had come up behind him. The bot was a seeker, mostly white with blue and red accents. But the most telling feature were the red optics. That meant at one time, the bot in front of him was a member of the Decepticon army.

“Who are you?” Sideswipe asked as he shook his trapped arm in front of him, trying to free it.

“Just a dear old friend of your carrier who wants to reconnect,” the mech replied with an evil smirk. 

Knowing he was in trouble, Sideswipe once again tried to jerk his arm free to no avail. Going for Plan B, he snapped a kick out to try and force the mech to let him go and move out of the way. Unfortunately, the mech just sidestepped him and with a quick move, aimed a kick towards Sideswipe’s knee joint, shattering it with the blow.

“Quick kid, but not quick enough,” the mech said as he released Sideswipe’s arm, letting him fall completely to the ground where he curled up on his side, hands grabbing at his injured joint. He felt himself rolled onto his back and held in place with a ped to his chest. Looking up, he found himself staring down the barrel of some type of blaster.

“Aw scrap.” The barrel fired and everything went black

*******************

Back at the scrap yard, the Autobots were standing opposite of the new comers while Bumblebee talked to the ones he called Ratchet and Knockout. Staring at the third visitor, Strongarm bumped Grimlock to get his attention and then pointed towards the mystery bot.

“Is it me, or does he look familiar?”

Grimlock looked at the stranger for a few seconds, cocking his head one way and then another. “Ya know, he looks like Sideswipe when he’s in a bad mood.”

“I’m sorry Ratchet, why are you looking for Sideswipe?”

“Because he’s my sparkling and I need to know he’s ok!”

Bumblebee turned towards Knockout at this revelation with wide optics. “Wait a minute, YOUR sparkling?!?”

“Yes my sparkling,” Knockout replied. “Now, where is he?!”

“He’s not here, left about thirty minutes ago.”

“Alright, then where did he go?”

“I don’t know for certain, I’m guessing the clifftop.”

“What do you mean you don’t know! He’s a youngling! Of all of the irresponsible….”

“Knockout, stop it, he doesn’t know!” Ratchet said as he grabbed Knockout’s arm to get his attention.

“What do you mean I don’t know?” Bumblebee asked.

Ratchet ex-vented deeply. “It’s Starscream. He’s here on Earth and wants revenge on Knockout for betraying him.”

While the adults were arguing, the stranger suddenly straightened and started rubbing his chest. He started walking towards the gate when a sharp pain in his leg caused him to go down to a kneeling position with a yelp.

“Sunny, what is it!” Knockout and Ratchet ran over to where the yellow youngling was now crouched on the ground.

“It’s Sides, he’s in trouble. He’s…..”

Suddenly, he arched back and collapsed unconscious into Knockout’s arms. Ratchet grabbed his scanner from subspace while Bumblebee and the other Earth-based Autobots ran over to see what had happened.

“Scans are normal,” Ratchet said as he lowered the scanner.

“What’s going on!” Bumblebee asked as he ran over to the trio. “Is he ok?!”

Knockout looked up towards his former teammate with terror in his optics.

“I’m too late,” he said quietly. “Starscream has Sideswipe.”


	3. The Beginnings of Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knockout begins to explain

The young bot that had been called Sunny was currently resting on a berth in the scrap yard’s make-shift med bay while Ratchet hovered near-by monitoring his vitals and Knockout paced while muttering to himself. After asking Drift to keep the other bots occupied, Bumblebee made his way over to try and get an explanation.

“How is he?” Bumblebee asked quietly. 

“He’ll be fine,” Ratchet replied without looking up from his scanner, “probably just have one pit of a helm-ache when he wakes up.”

“So do I get an explanation as to what’s going on?”

Both Ratchet and Knockout looked up but didn’t say a thing. Finally, Ratchet turned and looked at Knockout, raising an optic ridge before Knockout finally sighed in resignation.

“This is Sunstreaker,” Knockout gestured towards the unconscious bot. “He and Sideswipe are brothers. Heh, twins…actually. Split-spark twins.”

“Wait, I thought the well only created individual sparks?”

“You’re correct,” Knockout replied as he took a seat by the yellow youngling and began stroking his hand and forearm in a comforting manner. “However, kindled sparks do have the potential to split. It’s very rare but it’s a possibility.”

“Wait!” Bumblebee’s optics enlarged. “When you said Sideswipe was your sparkling…”

“I meant I carried him, both he and Sunstreaker. Wasn’t easy, their sire was no longer in the picture and it was quite the surprise when I felt the spark split shortly before emergence.”

“And it was a surprise for me to have a carrying mech come to our old base requesting my help,” Ratchet replied as he finally put the scanner away.

“But it was completely worth it when I held their tiny frames in my arms,” Knockout smiled at the memory.

“And I’m guessing that’s why you went into the private sector?” Bumblebee asked.

“Military bases are no place to raise younglings. I wanted something more for them. Took a job at a clinic outside of Iacon. Had its ups and downs. Sunny here can be a little anti-social at times and I sometimes think Sideswipe has the equivalent of the human condition ADHD, but they were mine.”

“And their fighting skills? I mean, I haven’t seen, um Sunstreaker, fight but Sideswipe has some good skills.”

“Please Bee, just because life is better on Cybertron doesn’t mean it’s ideal,” Knockout said. “You should know that working as a cop. Add in the fact that not everyone was as forgiving as Team Prime towards a former Decepticon, and well, my bitlets were going to be able to take care of themselves.”

Bumblebee went to ask a question but was stopped by some groaning and shuffling coming from the berth. They all turned to face the occupant to see his optics slowly power online.  
“What happened?” he asked quietly. “Who’s that?” indicating towards Bumblebee. 

“My guess is that you experienced some feedback from Sideswipe’s end of the bond,” Ratchet replied as he and Knockout helped Sunstreaker sit up. “As for him, that’s Bumblebee. He used to work with your carrier and myself and has been watching Sideswipe here on Earth.”

Sunstreaker mumbled something into his carrier’s chest armor which caused Knockout to chuckle. “He said he was surprised that you were still sane,” Knockout said as he saw Bumblebee’s confused face. 

“Knockout, we still have a situation here. Starscream most likely has Sideswipe and we’re going to need help to get him back. I think it’s time we let the others know the situation.”

Knockout stared at the youngling leaning up against him for a moment or two before nodding his head. “You’re right Ratchet. Bee, call the rest of your team over. It’s time they know what’s going on.”

********************

Senses came back slowly. Mumbling could be heard in the background and his optics were slow to turn on. Finally, after several attempts, the images became less fuzzy and he could see the interior of a ship. He noticed his hands bound in front of him with energized chains and released a hiss of pain when he tried to straighten out his legs. Raising his upper body some, he saw a splint applied to the painful limb but no repairs made. As his processor worked to try and remember what had happened, he started to hear what sounded like ped-steps walking towards him. He was soon raised into a seated position by someone grabbing him by his collar faring and lifting him from the floor. 

“Don’t worry, the effects of the null ray will wear off in due time. You do seem to be recovering faster than other bots though. Then again, your youth and special bond would assist greatly with this.”

Giving his head a shake to try and clear the rest of the cobwebs, Sideswipe looked up to see the face of the mech who had ambushed him. He jerked backwards, his back hitting the wall behind him and breaking the grip on his collar. He looked around the room they were currently in and realized it had to be some sort of cockpit and they were flying somewhere if the clouds brushing past the windows gave any indication.

“Who are you?” Sideswipe growled out. “What do you want from me?”

“Well, it’s not so much you that I want, it’s your carrier,” the strange mech said as he knelt in front of the injured youngling. “Did Knockout ever tell you the story of how he became an Autobot?”

“Said he wanted to do the right thing for once,” Sideswipe spat back.

“Heh, more like save his own plating,” the seeker chuckled. Suddenly, the look on his face became more serious and he shot his hand out, grabbing Sideswipe’s jawline and turning his head so they looked face to face. “He betrayed the cause, he BETRAYED me, and left me to rot at the whims of those disgusting Predacons. Your carrier will soon learn the penalty for betraying me!”

“You’re Starscream!”

“Ah, I see he has mentioned me in the past.” Starscream stood and turned his back to Sideswipe, motioning to one of the drones to come to his position. 

“Yeah, and you’re as crazy as he said you were.”

Turning around quickly, Starscream looked down to see Sideswipe smirking back at him. The anger in him rose and he could feel the heat rise through his faceplates. However, he calmed himself with a large exvent and a ruffle of his plating. He sent a comm to the drone who had come up behind him and then stepped out of the way while it went over to Sideswipe sat, picked him up around the waist and clamped a hand over his mouth.

“We’ll see who is crazy by the time all is said and done and I’m sure it will be your carrier who will be crazy, crazy with grief,” Starscream purred as he gently cupped Sideswipe’s face with his hand in response to the muffled curses being directed his way. “Come, I think it’s time we make a call to your dear old carrier.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, don't plan on naming the sire at this time. I will leave that up to your imagination :)


	4. Sins of the Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A message comes to the scrapyard

Back at the scrapyard, Knockout had been explaining to the others who he was and what Sideswipe was to the rest of Team Bee. There were some shocked expressions once the news came out, as split-spark twins were very rare and at the fact that Knockout used to be Megatron’s medical officer. Meanwhile, Russell was having a hard time trying to understand everything. 

“So wait, you were like pregnant?!?!” he exclaimed as he pointed towards Knockout. “How is that even possible!”

“For our species, carriers are not necessarily all femmes,” Ratchet explained, “it’s more of a function of our protoform and frame. Same with sires, they can be mech or femme.”

“So what about their dad, er, sire then?”

Knockout looked at the teenager briefly before glancing away, as if there was something more important at the tip of his fingers. “Alive last I knew but I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“So how are they twins, they don’t look all that alike?” Grimlock asked.

“Well, their protoforms are pretty identical,” Ratchet answered when he saw the Knockout wasn’t going to respond. “Differences in Cybertronian twins are more along the lines of how the color nanites express themselves. The rest is just bot modifications.”

“So in a way, they’re like identical twins in humans?” Denny asked.

“Pretty close,” Fix-It said. “I had always heard about twins but never knew a college ----- collage --- colleague was one! So, can you talk to each other without comms? Can you….”

At this point, the monitor began beeping with an incoming communication. The group huddled around the screen as Fix-It entered the commands to patch the caller through.

“Greetings fellow Cybertronians, oh, and look, Earth insects. How long has it been since I’ve been able to grace you with my presence?”

“Starscream, where is my youngling?” Knockout growled at the figure on screen. 

Starscream ignored the angry medic and instead, looked around at everyone who was gathered around the screen. 

“Ahh Ratchet, come out of retirement have you. And Bumblebee, how is my favorite scout. Vocalizer still working alright?”

“Skip the pleasantries Starscream,” Bumblebee said, “where is Sideswipe?”

“Ahh, you mean the missing red youngling. Never heard of him.”

“I’M NOT KIDDING AROUND STARSCREAM!” Knockout yelled at the smirking face as he hit the railing in front of him. He shook Ratchet’s hand off his shoulder while Sunstreaker walked up beside his carrier.

“My, someone got up on the wrong side of the berth this morning. Now that I think of it, I did come across a poor, lost, injured youngling earlier today. Perhaps he belongs to you.”

Starscream motioned off screen and was soon joined by a drone holding a struggling Sideswipe. He was jerking his head around trying to break the grip of the hand over his mouth and didn’t hear his teammates shout out his name as he came on screen, Starscream placed a hand on Sideswipe’s chest causing him to cease his struggles as he growled in return.

“Could this be your missing youngling?” he purred into the camera.

“Sideswipe, are you ok?” Bumblebee asked when he noticed both Knockout and Sunstreaker growl aggressively back at the screen.

The red youngling tried to answer but his responses were muffled and he started to struggle again which only increased the strength of the drone’s grip on him causing a wince of pain.

“What do you want Starscream!”

The jet smirked at the angry carrier before putting a neutral expression back on his face. “Oh, I’m just sharing stories about the old days, isn’t that right Sides. About how your carrier betrayed me to help the Autobots and abandoned me with those ghastly Predacons.”

Knockout’s spark was racing. He had gone for months not knowing what had happened to Sideswipe before he got a message from Jazz letting him know where his missing youngling was and that he was ok. During that time, he could hardly eat or recharge. Add in the fact the Sunstreaker’s behaviors became more aggressive as he was not able to feel his twin in their bond due to the distance between them; all he wanted to do was reach through that screen, clutch his youngling to his chest, and swear he would never lose him again. However, his youngest was now in the hands of an enemy and he had no idea where they were or where they were going. 

“Please Starscream, please just let me talk to him,” Knockout said quietly as his posture slumped into defeat.

“Well, when you ask so nicely.” Starscream gestured to the drone behind him who removed his hand from Sideswipe’s mouth.

“Sides, are you ok?”

Sideswipe looked at his carrier, he’d never seen him look so down and defeated. “Been better but I’m ok.” Looking up to see his twin, he gave a small smile, “Hey Sunny.”

“It’s Sunstreaker you idiot,” his twin replied while sheathing his blades. Although he looked angry on the outside, now that emotions had cooled some, he was able to send pulses of love and support to his twin that were returned in kind.

“So here is what we’re going to do.” Starscream interrupted. “We are currently flying towards a location that only I have the coordinates of. Don’t worry, we’re still on this pathetic mudball planet. Once we arrive, I will transmit the coordinates to you. Well, coordinates to the general vicinity, can’t make it too easy. Then, you just have to come and find us. You win, you get your youngling back. You lose, well, I get a new slave to take back to Cybertron. I hear the underground gladiator pits are making a *killing* right now.”

With that, Starscream cut the feed. The viewers shouted at Fix-It to try and bring the feed back online while Knockout jumped up on the platform to try and bring it back himself. He curses in several Earthen languages, as well as several Cybertronian dialects before Drift came up behind him to pull him away from the consol.

“Taking your anger out on the computer will not permit us to find them sooner and if you damage the equipment, Starscream won’t be able to contact you,” Drift said as he brought the distraught carrier back down to ground level where he fell into the arms of Ratchet and Sunstreaker.

“Sir, what do we do now?”

Bumblebee started when Strongarm spoke up quietly. Both she and Grimlock looked upset at the recent developments. He sighed, wishing more than ever that Optimus was here right now. Looking over at Knockout who was being quietly consoled by Sunstreaker and monitored by Ratchet, then back to his team, and finally to the vid screen that was filled with silent static.

“We wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one, needed a diversion from all of the political crap on TV right now


	5. Some Things should Remained Buried

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream has reached his location.

“You fragger! Put me down! How could you just cut the feed!”

Sideswipe was more than angry at Starscream for cutting the communications abruptly between the ship he was on and his family and team back at their base. As soon as the signal shut off, Starscream turned and walked off the bridge, the drone flinging his body so he was being carried over its shoulder as they followed the Decepticon down the hall. He had called Starscream all sorts of names, including some in different Earth languages, that only receive a comment that he must enjoy languages like his carrier. Hitting the drone with his fists did no good either, other than it did create a nice echo effect in the hallway. Suddenly, the drone stopped and he could hear a combination being entered into a keypad. The door slid open and the drone walked into what appeared to be a berth room. After dropping Sideswipe onto the berth, the drone stepped to the side while Starscream walked up to his prisoner, pulling out a knife. 

“Go ahead, I dare you,” Sideswipe egged on as he tried to scramble towards the back of the berth, injured limb throbbing from the fall.

Starscream just grinned and with a couple of quick moves, had pinned Sideswipe’s good leg with his body and had a hand on his bound wrists.

“Tempting but no,” he purred as he slowly moved the knife in front of Sideswipe’s faceplates. “I need you in relatively good shape for now.” With a quick flick of his wrist, he cut the cables binding Sideswipe’s wrists and flung him back on the berth before turning to leave. “Enjoy your stay, you’re going to be here for a while.”

As soon as they both exited the room, the door slammed shut and Sideswipe heard the locking mechanism engage, trapping him inside. He saw there was a small porthole in the upper part of the wall so at least he could tell if it was day or night wherever they ended up. There also appeared to be a vid screen and a small desk and chair. Knowing there was nothing he could do at this time, he curled up in the corner of the berth, as much as he could with a busted leg, and allowed his systems to slowly come down from the high state they were in. He had time and he was going to use it to try and find a way out of this mess.

*****************

Back at the scrap yard, Knock Out was currently resting on a med berth near the Alchemore. He had continued to pace and rant, systems running on high for far too long, before Sunstreaker took it upon himself to distract his carrier so Ratchet could inject him with a sedative. While Fix-It continued to scan for any signals indicating Starscream’s current position, Ratchet and Bumblebee tried to come up with a plan of action. However, Strongarm had notice that Sunstreaker was no longer hanging around the Alchemore and appeared to be missing from the scrap yard. Grabbing Grimlock, they both snuck out of the yard and followed the fresh tire tracks leading down towards the river. They had only been walking a few minutes when they heard what sounded like metal strikes. Fearing that he had found trouble, they hurried in the direction the sounds were coming from only to stop short at the tree line. 

A few months ago there had been a strong storm in the area that had damaged some of the trees down by the river. Watching below, they saw as Sunstreaker “sparred” between several of the different trunks as if he was participating in a training simulation. Unlike his brother who fought with one blade, he had two smaller blades; shorter than swords but longer than daggers. The blades were hard to follow at times, spinning one moment and stabbing the next, as he darted between the damaged trunks.

“He is quite good, is he not.”

The duo jumped at the voice, turning to see Drift coming up quietly behind them.

“Drift, I…” Strongarm stumbled before regaining her composure. “Are we needed back at the scrapyard?”

“No, Ratchet noticed Sunstreaker was missing and indicated he had probably needed to clear his head. Bumblebee was going to send you but you were missing as well.”

“Wonder where he learned all of the spinny stuff?” Grimlock asked as he tried to mimic that quick moves in his typical uncoordinated fashion. 

“Yeah, they would have been too young to attend the academies,” Strongarm added.

“I don’t know much about Knockout as our paths were different during the war,” Drift replied. “However, I know that he was a more than capable fighter in his own right and had contacts with others who were also skilled warriors. If would not seem improbable for him to reach out to those individuals if their skills were required.”

At this moment, Sunstreaker swung out a snap kick, breaking one of the damaged trunks in half before spinning and dropping to his knees, facing the trio, with his arms flung wide. Closer inspection showed that he had flung his blades into the other two trunks, striking them dead center.

“As for his throwing skills, having had interactions with Ratchet in the past, I’m sure he learned his ability to aim and release quickly from him.” Drift bowed his head towards Sunstreaker, who returned the gesture as he stood before grabbing the blades and sheathing them. 

“Come, we need to return to the scrapyard. There is no telling when we may hear from Starscream.”

*******************

Sideswipe was unsure how long he had been a prisoner as his chronometer was offline. He would nod off every now and then, sometimes when he woke, there would be light coming through the porthole, other times, it was dark. However, this didn’t help because he knew the Starscream was travelling here and there around the planet (that he was sure of as there were no indicators that they had left the Earth’s atmosphere) and without knowing which time zones they were going through, he was unable to try and guess how many days it had been. He currently had an Energon line in him as he refused to drink the cubes brought to him so Starscream had a line locked to his system for infusions. During this time, he had noticed the area around his shattered joint growing warmer and more painful, more than expected for normal auto repair. He knew his carrier was going to throw a fit at the state of his youngest when he finally returned home. Every now and then, he would transmit feelings to his twin, being too far away to convey an actual message, and they were quickly reciprocated. 

Suddenly, he could hear a change in the sounds of the engine and shortly thereafter, the gentle bump as the landing gear made contact. Moments later, he heard the locks disengage as the door slid open, revealing Starscream and one of his drones.

“Well youngling, we have finally arrived at our destination,” Starscream said as he walked over to disengage the Energon line attached to Sideswipe’s arm.

“Where are we?” Sideswipe growled back.

“Patience young one, I’m sure your carrier will be quite, em, surprised, at our location.” Motioning towards the drone, “bring him and follow me.”

Before he had a chance to scramble away from the reaching arms, Sideswipe found himself flung once more over its shoulder as they walked through the ship, yelling and hitting the entire way. Soon, they walked down the ramp into what appeared to be a cavern of some type. There were signs that Starscream had been on Earth for a period of time, as evidenced by the newer computer equipment and two dozen drones that appeared to be in stasis. However, as shown by the older, broken, and/or rusted equipment, this place also appeared to have been used by Cybertronians in the past. Walking over to one of the cavern walls, Sideswipe was dropped onto a pallet of some sort and cuffs clamped onto his wrists. Getting a better look at his situation, there was an Energon chain attached to the wall just beside the pallet that connected to the cuffs attached to his wrists with enough line that permitted him to sit or roll over but move no further. 

“Wait! Where are you going!” Sideswipe yelled as Starscream turned and walked towards one of the computers.

“Why, I’m getting things ready for your carrier. Aren’t you eager to see him again?” Starscream purred back as he pushed a button on the console, causing all of the drones in stasis to activate. “Now to send the invitation.”

Starscream entered a few more commands on the keyboard before walking away from the computer and towards the exit, drone army following behind him. He waited for the last of the drones to pass through the entrance before turning away.

“Enjoy your stay Sideswipe, for the next time you leave this place, we’ll be on our way back to Cybertron with your carrier’s helm.” 

The doors then slammed shut, leaving him in silence, the only lights coming from the computer screen which showed a map and the few auxiliary lights scattered throughout the cavern.

*******************  
“Fix-It to Bumblebee, we’ve got incoming message. Appears to be coded from Starscream.”

“About blasted time!” Knockout growled as he ran up to the command deck. It had been five days since he last heard anything from Starscream and he was at his wit’s end. 

“Go ahead and open it Fix-It,” Bumblebee said as the rest of the Autobots came rushing over. “Well, what does it say?”

“Just coordinates sir, attempting to locate now.”

However, Knockout didn’t need to see where the coordinates popped up on the map. Unfortunately, these numbers had been burned into his processor.

“Oh Primus,” he said as he sunk to his knees, Ratchet and Sunstreaker running over to him.

“What’s wrong?” Knockout!” Ratchet yelled as he tried to get his attention.

“I’ll fragging kill him. That worthless excuse for a Seeker is dead.”

“Ratchet, what’s going on, why is he acting his way?” Sunstreaker asked as he tried to understand his carrier’s mutterings.

“Fix-It! We need those coordinates now!” Bumblebee said a little too forcefully, trying to hide his anxiety over the scene before him.

“Got it!”

All of the bots, except Knockout, looked up towards the screen to see where the coordinates indicated, causing both Ratchet and Bumblebee to gasp.

“What! Ratchet, where is this!” Sunstreaker demanded.

Bumblebee walked over and knelt by Knockout, placing his hands on his shoulders for reassurance while Ratchet turned towards Sunstreaker.

“Sunny, Starscream took your brother to the location where Breakdown was offlined by Airachnid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long update. Been down sick for several weeks, this stupid cold just doesn't quit. Starting to feel a little better so hopefully the creative juices will start flowing again, and not be influenced by cold meds!


	6. Countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knock Out vs. Starscream

There was a flash of green light and the Autobot team walked out into a meadow from the portal. Once it closed, Knock Out removed his Energon staff from subspace and started to walk off.

“Hold on Knock Out! You’re not going anywhere on your own!” Bumblebee ran after him, grabbing his upper arm to keep him from walking any further. 

“Fine, what do you suggest?!”

Knock Out was stressed, tired, and all he wanted to do was rip the wings off a certain seeker’s frame and shove them in different orifices for the pain he had caused. 

Bumblebee turned towards the yellow twin. “Sunstreaker, can you tell where Sideswipe is through your bond?”

“Not a specific location,” Sunstreaker shook his head, “but he’s close.”

“Alight, lets split up,” Bumblebee said. “Ratchet, go with Sunstreaker and Strongarm. Drift, you go with Grimlock. Knock Out, you’re with me. Everyone keep your comms open.”

The three groups split off, unaware that they were being monitored from above.

*****************

Sideswipe was half in recharge down in the cavern. He wasn’t sure how long he had spent trying to find a loose connection in the chains cuffing him to the wall but had finally collapsed in near exhaustion. His injury was taking a toll on his body and he was almost certain that he had an infection originating from the wound on his knee. His frame was running warmer than normal with his fans kicking on frequently to try and cool his inner circuits to limit further damage. Suddenly, the monitor in the center of the room kicked on, nearly blinding him with the flash of light. Turning towards the screen and sitting up to get a better view, he noticed that a camera drone was sending images back to the monitor showing his carrier and Bumblebee walking through a forested area. His spark leapt with joy, his team and his family were here to rescue him! He just hoped that they found him before Starscream and his drones found them.

******************

“Knock Out! Stop!”

The red sports car had remained silent since the team had split up and was showing limited awareness to his surroundings. Bumblebee knew if he didn’t get Knock Out’s processor in the game, the consequences would be dire.

“Listen to me!” Bumblebee spun Knock Out around so they were facing each other, grabbing his shoulders to make him stay put. “You keep this up and Starscream is going to fly all over you.”

“I’m perfectly capable of handling that wretched seeker,” Knock Out raised an arm in an attempt to slap Bumblebee’s hands off him.

“No, you’re not.” Bumblebee ex-vented before continuing. “You are in no frame of mind to meet Starscream in battle right now. You’re wrapped so tight you don’t know what end is up and playing right into his sick little game.”

“What if I can’t get him back,” Knock Out said quietly as his helm lowered. “Sunny and Sides are all I have, my whole world, I just, I can’t…”

“We’ll get him back, you’re not alone in this. All of this, all Starscream has done is make the rest of us determined. Deciding to fight us here, where Breakdown deactivated to try and hurt you more, well, that just cemented our resolve.”

It took several moments for Knock Out to slow his ventilations and return to a calmer, more battle-ready state. Finally, he looked up, the smirk back on his face.

“C’mon Bee, we got a seeker to ground.”

********************

“Getting anything Sunny?”

Ratchet looked ahead towards the yellow twin who was leading the trio while Strongarm provided coverage at the rear.

“He’s close but that’s all I can tell you,” Sunstreaker replied as he continued to pulse out feelings of comfort to his twin, letting him know they were getting closer by the minute. 

The trio had climbed to the top of a bluff that gave them a better view of the area around them. Unfortunately, nothing stood out and screamed ‘evil megalomaniac HQ here’, it was just a rolling topography with forests and open meadows in all directions.

“I still don’t understand why he came all of the way out here?” Strongarm lowered her weapon as she continued to survey the area around here.

“Partly to cause more injury to Knock Out as a good friend of his was deactivated in this area,” Ratchet replied while Sunstreaker picked at his fingertips with the blade of his knife. “This area also used to be a hideout for a Decepticon named Airachnid. It may not look it, but this area hides a network of underground tunnels and caverns she created with her Insecticons. There are more than enough places for Starscream to hide out with Sideswipe.”

“Then how?”

Sunstreaker stopped as Ratchet raised his hand as a comm message came though.

“That was Bee, they’ve run into trouble and need some help.”

They turned towards the direction that Bumblebee and Knock Out were going to patrol and took off at a run, Strongarm in the lead. However, as they made their way through some overgrowth, the ground beneath her suddenly gave way and it was only by the quick action of Sunstreaker that prevented her from falling.

“Ratchet! Get over here, I need some help!” Sunstreaker yelled as he fell to his stomach as Strongarm struggled to gain footing to help push herself up. 

He’d no more than ran over to the two younglings before he felt the ground shift and the trio found themselves falling into darkness. 

*********************

Drift and Grimlock managed to make their way to where Bumblebee and Knock Out had been ambushed by Starscream with over 2 dozen drones. They were barely holding on when Grimlock came running through and destroyed several of the drones by stomping on them and hitting them with his tail. However, they were still severely outnumbered and were slowly being encircled by the drones while Starscream hovered overhead.

“Get down here you coward!” Knock Out yelled as he swung at another drone. “Tell me where my youngling is!”

“Oh, I’m rather enjoying the show up here just fine,” Starscream called back. “Besides, why would I damage my paint dealing with the traitorous likes of you.”

Knock Out went to reply when a blaster shot burned across the top of his shoulder, dropping him to his knees as he grabbed the wound with his other hand.

“I recommend a strategic retreat,” Drift said to Bumblebee as they were pressed back by the drones.

“Agreed. Grimlock! Get us a path out of here!”

Grimlock turned at the sound of his name before getting a grin on his face. With a primal roar, he took off at a run, breaking through a line of drones while Drift followed close behind supporting Knock Out and Bumblebee taking the rear. 

“After them you idiots!” Starscream yelled as his drones were momentarily stalled by the unpredicted escape of the Autobots. “I swear, if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself,” he muttered as he fired some blasts towards the escaping party while the drones reoriented themselves to chase them down.

*******************

His helm hurt. His helm really hurt. So did his hands. He didn’t like it when his hands hurt. As for who was shaking him, didn’t they know he wasn’t a morning bot.

“Sunny, come on,” the shaking persisted. “Sunny!”

He onlined his optics to see Ratchet in front of him and Strongarm off to the side.

“What happened?”

“Looks like we fell into one of those caverns Ratchet talked about earlier,” Strongarm said as Sunstreaker sat himself up, rubbing his chest plates all the while. “I don’t see any way to climb back out, the ground is too unstable to hold our weight.”

He watched as Ratchet and Strongarm appeared to be discussing their next plan of action but he really wasn’t paying attention. He kept hearing yelling but he noticed the others didn’t react to it. He stood up and walked in a small circle but his spark kept pounding and the yelling didn’t cease. Suddenly, he turned towards a tunnel and slowly started walking towards it.

“Sunny?”

He didn’t turn when Ratchet called out his name. Instead he kept walking forwards.

“Sides?” He rubbed his chest some more. “SIDES!”

“Primus slag it!” Ratchet yelled as he noticed the youngling take off down the tunnel as he yelled out his twin’s name. “Come on before we lose him!”

They barely kept Sunstreaker in sight. Thankfully, his bright coloring helped in the dimness of the tunnel. They saw him around a corner and then nearly ran into him when he stopped at a doorway, where over the revving of their systems, they could hear muffled yelling.

“Can you hack that?” Ratchet asked as he turned to Strongarm and pointed towards the lock.

“Frag that,” Sunstreaker growled out. He pulled a blade from subspace and slammed it into the control panel. With a hiss, the doors slid open and the trio ran into the room that was lit up by a large computer monitor.

“SIDES!”

“SUNNY!”

They ran around some old equipment to find Sideswipe in front of the monitor, pulling on the energon chains that tethered him to the wall.

Sunstreaker ran up to his twin, using his blade to cut the chain connecting the cuffs to the power source in the wall. There was a quick power surge before they de-energized, allowing him to start picking at the cuffs holding Sideswipe’s wrists together. Once his hands were freed, he reached around his twin, pulling Sunstreaker into an embrace, foreheads resting against each other.

“Next time, don’t run away from home without me.”

“Don’t plan on there being a next time.”

Their reunion was short lived as Sunstreaker suddenly pushed his twin away. “You’re burning up. Ratchet!”

The medic was already on his way over and at Sideswipe’s side before Sunstreaker got done yelling for him. 

“Hey Hatchet,” Sideswipe managed weakly.

“Don’t you ‘Hey Hatchet’ me you little pit spawn.” He glanced down at the injured knee while running scans regarding the extent of the damage and the current side effects. “Can’t do much to fix you up here, can give you some medications to help with the fever and control pain but you’re looking at some serious repairs once we get you back to the scrap yard. Knock Out is going to have a fit at the state you’re in.”

“If he doesn’t off-line me himself.”

Ratchet connected himself to Sideswipe’s medical ports and downloaded some medical programs before moving to the bracing stabilizing his knee joint while Strongarm stood guard in case there were any drones that remained in the underground facility. Without warning, the door they entered the cavern through slammed shut and the view on the monitor cut off to now show a timer that had started counting down from five minutes. 

“Um, guys, we’ve got a situation!” Strongarm yelled as she tried to pry the doors open. 

Ratchet gestured Sunstreaker to go over to help her while he finished up stabilizing Sideswipe for transport. They were unsuccessful at prying the doors open and stabbing the control panel wasn’t working this time around. Turning around, they saw that Ratchet had carried Sideswipe over to the computer mainframe where they were examining the different access points.

“Can you hack it?” Sunstreaker yelled back.

“No go!” Sideswipe called back. The panels are fried, must have triggered when the self-destruct activated!” He looked up at the screen – three minutes thirty seconds.

Suddenly, Ratchet jerked, like something had spooked him. He picked Sideswipe back up and moved towards some crates. “Get your afts away from that door and get over here!”

******************

Bumblebee and the others had managed to evade Starscream and his drones for a short period of time. Grimlock even managed to take a few more of them out with some quick charges. Unfortunately, they had run right up against a bluff and were now trapped against the wall. Drift had released Jetfire and Jetstorm so he could use both of his blades while Knock Out was holding onto his energy prod with one arm while the other hung limply at his side. The drones stopped about fifty feet away, blasters pointed towards the trapped group while Starscream lowered himself to the ground in front of them. 

“Well, finally trapped like the glitch-mice you are,” he sneered. He turned towards where Knock Out was glaring at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your younglings.”

“Get ready guys,” Bumblebee muttered to the others. “We’re not done yet.”

They readied their weapons, waiting for Starscream to give the command for the drones to attack.

“Ready.”

Peds shifted for quicker counter attack.

“Aim.”

BANG! BANG!

Two quick shots from overhead took out two of the drones closest to Starscream. He turned quickly in both directions as they fell beside him. 

“What is the meaning!….”

Two more shots dropped two more drones. Stunned by the new attackers, the drones froze up momentarily, giving the Autobots the chance to charge at Starscream and his remaining army. While the cover fire and the Bee team went after the rest of the drones, Knock Out charged at Starscream. Seeing he had lost this battle, he went to escape but Knock Out managed to jump onto his frame and knock him to the ground. They rolled around trying to get the upper hand before Knock Out finally managed to overtake the seeker, keeping him pinned to the ground by holding his prod over the vital area of Starscream’s neck. 

“You don’t have the guts Knock Out,” Starscream purred as he looked up at Knock Out’s furious glare. “You’re an Autobot now.”

“No, I’m a carrier first and foremost and you messed with the wrong set of younglings,” Knock Out returned.

With a growl, he raised the prod a short amount before stopping. However, before he could slam it into the seeker’s throat, he felt a hand grasp his forearm. 

“Stop Knock Out,” Bumblebee said. “He’s not worth it.”

By this time, the Bee team had come up behind their leader and all were staring at the grounded seeker. Finally, with a large ex-vent, Knock Out moved the prod away from the seeker’s neck.

“You are correct Bumblebee. It is not worth going to prison over Starscream’s deactivation.”

Bumblebee and Knock Out turned while Drift and Grimlock kept their optics on Starscream. Coming up behind them were two figures of Praxian build, one a mature mech of black and white while the other appeared to be around the age of the twins, gray with red accents.

“Prowl?!?!?”

The larger of the two new arrivals nodded his head as they approached the group. “We had heard that Starscream escaped and was heading towards Earth and came to provide assistance.”

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. Starscream took advantage of this, knocking the prod away from him and rolling away from the Autobots, ending in a crouched position.

“You see Knock Out, I win in the end. Did you know your other youngling found his lost twin? They were together in the cavern with that old grouch medic. While you were fighting my drones, I was monitoring the cavern remotely. That trembling you felt, that was the self-destruct initiating.”

An explosion was heard in the distance before a cloud of dirt and debris was blown into the air. Using the distraction, Starscream jumped into the air, initiated his transformation sequence, and with some twists and turns, escaped through the canopy and sped away from the area. 

Meanwhile, Knock Out had collapsed to his knees, arms encircling his chest, and yelled for his younglings. Bumblebee knelt on one side while Prowl knelt in front of him,

“Knock Out, look at me!” Prowl grabbed his faceplates, forcing Knock Out to look at him. “Slow your vents. What is your spark telling you?”

Knock Out kept trying to jerk his helm out of Prowl’s hands, wanting to do nothing more than curl up in a ball and deactivate. He tried to turn away but Prowl just gripper tighter, giving him a slight shake, and forced him to look him in the optics.

“What does your spark say?”

“What????”

“HEY! Y’all miss us!”

Prowl smiled as the group looked up. Sunstreaker and Strongarm walked on either side of Ratchet, who was cradling Sideswipe to his chest in a bridal carry. Leading the way, waving like an overly excited sparkling was Jazz. Knock Out shook himself free of Prowl and took off towards the new arrivals. Ratchet knelt on the ground so he could sit Sideswipe down as the emotional carrier dove to the ground to embrace him. He was crying as he pulled the red youngling towards him, then grabbed his yellow counterpart, pulling him down into the embrace. Sunstreaker didn’t even complain about his paint being scratched.

“How? How did you find them?” Knock Out asked after taking a moment to compose himself. “We could see the debris from the explosion over here?”

Jazz stood smiling over the trio. “Well, you know Jackie makes the best toys in his downtime. Was able to track ol’ Ratch here and just a matter of blowing the door open. Made it out with moments to spare.”

Knock Out let go of Sunstreaker so he could stand up once more but maintained his hold on Sideswipe. “You are so grounded. I swear to Primus, you do this to me again and I’ll offline you myself!”

“Knock Out, we need to get back to base. Sides is pretty sick and you guys look banged up as well,” Ratchet said as he knelt by his fellow medic. “Let’s get home so we can get everyone repaired, then you can reformat him.”

Bumblebee couldn’t help but laugh as Sideswipe tried to protest. He watched as Ratchet picked up the red youngling while Sunstreaker helped his carrier up from the ground.

“Bumblebee to Fix-It, open a ground bridge. We’re coming home and we’re bringing guests.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that muses don't like winter? Don't like colds or flu either?
> 
> One more chapter should wrap this one up.


	7. Coming Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Autobots return to base and find out things aren't going well on Cybertron

As soon as they arrived back at the scrap yard, Ratchet had Fix-It hook up an IV to Sideswipe so they could start administering different medications to fight the infection and to prep him for surgery. While this was going on, Ratchet performed the repairs Knock Out needed to his shoulder as he knew that the carrier would want to help with the procedures his youngling would require but couldn’t perform in his current state. Once he was completed, they took over Sideswipe’s care from Fix-It who was then able to focus on the minor repairs the others in the group required. Ratchet had estimated Sideswipe’s repairs would take several hours, between cleaning the affected area, realigning the damaged structures, and repairing the broken joints and struts. In the meantime, they were not to be disturbed under penalty of buzz saws and flying wrenches. This did not sit well with Sunstreaker but he was able to be sufficiently distracted by Bluestreak.

“Never knew you had a youngling, Prowl,” Bumblebee said as his superior walked over to where he was watching the two younglings interact. 

“Bluestreak came under my protection when he was quite young. He was involved in a traumatic event and in his terror, somehow formed a connection with me,” he replied.

“Don’t be fooled, that kid’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to ya Prowler,” Jazz interrupted from where he was perched above them, also keeping an eye on the two younglings, as well as, maintain an overhead view of how Ratchet and Knock Out were doing. “Not so uptight anymore.”

“So, do they know each other?” Bumblebee gestured.

“Yes, for quite some time. I was required to partake in an investigation not far from Knock Out’s clinic. The twins and Bluestreak are very close in age and when we stopped by to check on things, they got along very well. Bluestreak would often go there for visits but on occasion, the twins came to visit with us. They are very tolerant of his, um, habit.”

At Bumblebee’s strange look, Jazz responded “Let’s just say, Bluestreak lives up to his name.”

Turning back to the duo, Bumblebee had noticed that Bluestreak had maintained an almost constant state of talking while Sunstreaker would nod or shake his head, maybe interject a comment or two every now and then. 

“I see.”

*******************

It was shortly before nightfall before Ratchet came out into the main area where the rest of the team had been either patiently waiting or constantly pacing. Denny had been fighting with Russell regarding getting ready for bed but finally relented when he begged to wait until they had word from either medical officer on Sideswipe’s current condition. 

“Ratchet, how’s he doing?”, Bumblebee asked as he noticed the medic walking their way. 

“He’ll be sore for a while but he’ll make a complete recovery,” the medic replied as he accepted a cube of Energon from Strongarm. “May have to replace his audials tomorrow when Knock Out gets done reading him the riot act but I’m sure having to be off his peds for the near future will be punishment enough.”

“Why’s that?” Grimlock asked. “Might be nice to get to take it easy.”

“Yes, but Sideswipe does not do still,” Drift replied. “I believe that is what Ratchet means.”

After hearing some other basic updates, Bumblebee dismissed the rest of the team to get some rest while Sunstreaker and Bluestreak followed Ratchet over to where Knock Out was monitoring Sideswipe. Once everyone had disbursed to their designated areas in the scrap yard, Jazz turned down to Prowl.

“Go file your reports and let Magnus know what’s going on, I’ll take first watch.”

What exactly is going on?” Bumblebee asked. With everything that had happened and the urgency at getting Sideswipe back to base, he had yet to be fully debriefed on the situation. 

Seeing that Jazz had “tuned” himself out of the conversation, Prowl sighed before looking up. “Starscream isn’t the only Decepticon that we need to worry about. He has made contact with his trine and they are believed to be on their way here. There are also other isolated groups of Decepticons that did not heed Megatron’s call to cease hostilities and have been working in the shadows to restart the conflict once more. Without a centralized leader, there are different factions within the Decepticons fighting not only for power and territory but for control.”

“Magnus thought you might need some help,” Jazz interjected. “Took some time to convince the council but here we are!”

“We will discuss more in the morning,” Prowl said. “I am quite sure you are tired and your auto repair is only increasing your fatigue. I will review the reports already on file along with this new information and present my findings at that time.”

Bumblebee nodded his head at Prowl who turned to find himself a quiet area in the scrap yard where he could work in relative peace. However, before he could walk away to get some recharge on his own, Jazz gestured for Bee to climb up beside him.

“Come here, want to see something absolutely adorable?” Jazz asked as he patted the area beside him.

Bumblebee cocked his head, unsure what Jazz had going on in his mind but decided to humor him. After climbing the pile of scrap and ensuring it would hold both of their weights, he looked over where Jazz was pointing.

“Love younglings, act all tough and what not, just can’t admit they’re still kids without them kicking and screaming in denial.”

Knock Out and Sunstreaker were talking beside the berth where Sideswipe lay in stasis, still hooked up to medications and monitors. They appeared to be arguing quietly by their gestures but he was unable to hear what they were saying. Finally, it appeared that Knock Out had relented and went over to the supply cabinets where he grabbed some blankets before returning and spreading them on the ground. While Sunstreaker curled up on the blankets, Knock Out carefully lifted Sideswipe from the berth, watching the lines and tubes he was hooked up to and the bracing supporting his repaired limb, and lay him gently beside his twin, before stepping out of the way so Bluestreak could curl up on the injured youngling’s other side. Making sure everything was still working correctly, Knock Out tossed some more blankets on top of the trio before dimming the lighting and collapsing in recharge in a chair not far away. 

“Those kids haven’t had it easy,” Jazz said, sensing Bumblebee’s confusion. “The twins have always felt like outsiders, between their sire not being around and the stigma of both Knock Out’s past and the negative beliefs regarding twins. Bluestreak is just as equally broken with what he went through. Not sure what it is, but those three, they’re good for each other. That and how often do you see the caring side to Knock Out. But remember, you never saw a thing.” Jazz smiled as he looked at the yellow Camaro. “Go get some sleep, you look like you’re about to deactivate on your peds. Prowl and I will keep watch. Gotta feelin’ that Drift fellow will be keeping an eye on things as well.”

Bumblebee huffed a laugh before leaping down from his perch beside Jazz. Giving half a salute, he walked away into the darkness to get some recharge.

****************

“Stop it!”

“But Ratchet! It itches!”

“It’s going to keep itching if you don’t leave it alone!”

*SMACK*

“Ouch! Ratchet, that was my hand!”

“It will be your helm next time if you don’t quit poking at it.”

“For the love of Primus, just give him some sedatives or something before he drives the rest of us crazy.”

Sideswipe reached over and smacked his brother across the back of his head.

“I swear, if you scratched my paint, I’m gonna……”

“Oh look, just like the old days. I’m so glad that not even 24 hours after being reunited, you’re already fighting like normal.”

“SHUT UP” twin voices yelled out.

“See Ratchet, I gave them life and I get no respect in return.”

Bluestreak laughed in the background while Ratchet kept cleaning his tools, muttering on about being surrounded by cortex damaged idiots. In the meantime, Knock Out made his way over to Sideswipe to check on how his repairs were going.

“How does it feel this am?” he asked while inspecting the repaired limb. “And don’t say it itches! Any pain?”

“Not too bad, aches more than anything,” Sideswipe replied. “So how long do I have to wear this contraption?”

“Until I say so,” Ratchet called over his shoulder while Knock Out gestured in deference to the older medic.

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence before Ratchet put down what he was working on. “Come on you two, why do we go see what’s going on elsewhere in the yard. I think Knock Out needs some time with the pit spawn.”

“I thought I was the pit spawn,” Sunstreaker smirked.

“No, you’re the hellion, he’s the pit spawn. Now git!”

Knock Out watched as Ratchet led Sunstreaker and Bluestreak away before turning back to the berth. Sideswipe however, wouldn’t meet his optics. After a moment of silence, he rested his hands on the berth, tapping a rhythm out with the tips of his fingers. 

“So, care to explain the past few months so that your brother and I know why we’ve worried ourselves sick over thoughts of what happened to you?”

Sideswipe found that everything around him was more interesting than looking at Knock Out at the moment. He’d glance towards his carrier then look away again.

“I’m waiting.”

“Not like I meant to end up here,” was the muttered response. Sideswipe turned his helm to look at his carrier, then let out a loud exvent. “I got asked to hack a space bridge, got dragged here by Strongarm, and well, it was a lot more interesting here than back on Cybertron…..”

Sideswipe went to turn his head away again but his chin was grabbed by Knock Out’s hand and turned back towards him. 

“We’ve been worried sick about you! I was scared you had gone and done something to get yourself hurt or that someone came after you because of me! Do you know how that made me feel! Made us feel!” Knock Out began, the volume of his voice getting louder. Then suddenly he paused, took in a deep invent while shuttering his optics. He needed a moment to compose himself before continuing. “I swore that when I found you, I was going to reformat you into something less mobile and ground you until the end of time. But then Jazz showed up, said he’d been to Earth and had some information I might find valuable. He told me he met you and had heard from Prowl that you were missing after a space bridge incident. He said you were doing ok and was helping Bee out in catching some escaped criminals. I wasn’t ok with you being gone but I was happy that you were taking on some responsibility.”

“So, I’m not grounded then?” Sideswipe asked as Knock Out released him and turned back towards the counter to grab a cube of med-grade energon. 

“No, you’re still grounded,” Knock Out replied as he disconnected the energon lines and handed him the cube, which garnered a groan, both at his punishment and at the thought of downing the awful tasting drink. He gestured towards Sideswipe to drink it, then took the empty cube back. He turned back around to put both of his hands on Sideswipe’s shoulders, resting their forehelms together. “However, you ever do something like this again, I’m reformatting you into a tricycle.”

Sideswipe gulped and nodded his head in understanding. Being reformatted was no joke, especially when one’s carrier was a medic!

“Hey!”

The duo turned towards the voice to see Bumblebee waving at them.

“Prowl says he needs to discuss some things, care to join us or do you want us to come over there?”

“No, give me a moment and we’ll be there shortly,” Knock Out replied before turning so his back faced the berth. 

“Ooohhh, haven’t had a piggy-back ride in a long time, I feel so special,” Sideswipe smiled as he looped his arms around his carrier’s neck while Knock Out adjusted his grip on his legs.

“Just watch the paint, otherwise, it will be the last one you get for a while.”

***********************

The rest of the Autobots were gathered around Fix-It’s computer console with Knock Out came around the corner with Sideswipe. There was a moment of calm before Grimlock and Russel ran over to see how he was doing. Soon, Jetstorm and Jetfire had joined the group which involved some excited chattering. Strongarm was more reserved but came over as well with a smile on her face welcoming him back home. 

“Hate to interrupt this beautiful moment but duty calls,” Jazz called out with a smile.

Once everyone was situated and Sideswipe was seated comfortably, Prowl began the meeting.

“While reconstruction has been running in a somewhat smooth manner back on Cybertron, there are still factions of former Decepticons that will not adhere to the cease fire. Instead, they are massing supplies and followers with the goal of restarting the conflict. While not popular with the new council, Ultra Magnus has finally convinced them of the benefit of setting up small outposts where Decepticon activity has been noted and/or expected.”

“And with the crash of the Alchemore and our escaped prisoners, I’m sure that put us at the top of the list,” Bumblebee observed.

“Yes and no. While it was a concern initially, it was when word was received of Starscream heading towards this planet that this situation became more of a priority. They were not willing to risk him taking command of the escaped prisoners and restarting the war on Earth.”

“So, we fig’rd we’d hang out at the ol’ Jasper base with Ratchet and work in conjunction with you guys here. Havin’ a space bridge helps but looks like yours could use some work,” Jazz said.

“Any help would be greatly appropriated….apprehended….appreciated!” Fix-It finally got out. 

“Wheeljack and Smokescreen will arrive in a few days time with two of Jazz’s special operatives, Hound and Mirage,” Prowl continued. “It was planned that they would join us in Jasper due to the larger accommodations. However, now that Knock Out and Sunstreaker are here….”

“As if you need to worry about that Prowl,” Knock Out interrupted. “I just got my youngling back, I plan to stick around. Though I supposed the proper thing to do would be to get Bumblebee’s permission. I mean, this is his base and his team we’re talking about here.”

Bumblebee smiled and walked over to grasp Knock Out’s forearm. “Would be glad to have your assistance.”

“Then it’s settled,” Knock Out replied. “Of course, this means we’ll need to overhaul the med bay, I refuse to work in such substandard conditions…..”

While the adults continued to work on coordinating their bases and activities (and upgrading Knock Out’s newly acquired Med Bay), the others gathered around each other for more detailed introductions before Grimlock grabbed Sideswipe, running towards the diner yelling “movie time” and being followed by the others. 

“Go find them something to watch Rusty,” Denny laughed as he gave his son a gentle push towards the ‘TV room’. “Looks like I’ve got some organizing to do to make room for our new residents.”

***********************

Meanwhile, in orbit around the moon

“Thundercracker, Skywarp, report to coordinates 1537.252 in the Beta quadrant. I will be waiting for your arrival.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So got a story done (finally!). Left it open to a sequel, will see how the bunnies go in the future. Right now, they're poking at me about my other 2 stories so who knows....

**Author's Note:**

> This is becoming addicting, how do you guys balance more than one work at a time!


End file.
